KARACHI, Pakistan - Following a bloody attack on a missionary school in northern Pakistan, Christian leaders in the southern part of the country asked authorities Tuesday for more protection for churches and schools.
The Christian delegation asked Sindh province officials to step up police security at churches and missionary schools, most of which are in the provincial capital of Karachi, said Michael Javed, one of the Christians and a former member of the provincial parliament.
They also asked for extra protection for churches in Karachi frequented by Westerners. Westerners were the apparent target of Monday's attack by gunmen of a Christian school in the town of Murree that left six dead, all Pakistanis.
The delegation said the Murree attack had made security an urgent concern for Christians in Pakistan, Javed said.
"Our churches should be secured at the maximum level" to prevent terrorists from striking again, Javed told The Associated Press.
Sindh Chief Secretary KB Rindh sought to assure the delegation that security was already being strengthened.
"All minorities are protected under constitution of Pakistan and they enjoy equal rights in our society. Their property and institutions will be protected effectively," an official handout quoted him as saying.
Rindh told the delegation that like elsewhere in the world, Pakistan was faced with the threat of terrorism. But he said the government was taking earnest measures to counter the threat.
According to Javed, Rindh said he'd ordered Karachi city police to increase security of not only Christian institutions but all property belonging to religious minorities, such as Hindus.
Javed said Rindh also ordered police to keep a complete record of people visiting Christian places.
Senior police officer Tariq Jamil said security was already being beefed up around churches in Karachi.
"A sufficient number of personnel have been deployed at all sensitive points while extensive patrolling and snap checking are being carried out in the city," he told The AP.
Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, has been the scene of some of the most violent anti-Western attacks following Sept. 11, including a car bomb in May that killed 11 French engineers and three Pakistanis.
The overwhelming majority of Pakistan's 145 million people are Muslims. Christians make up less than 2 percent.